“Ah, Kibum. There you are. Why weren’t you around?” Kibum closed the door to my suite behind him and smiled at me. I couldn’t find the strength to smile back.

“Why, did you miss me?” he grinned. I shook my head out of self-defense, but I had to admit to myself that I needed him. I needed him more than ever. I needed his advice, his jokes, his nagging. Something to get my mind off of everything.

“What’s wrong?” Kibum asked. As usual, he knew when something was wrong. I sighed.

“Well… I’m just… I’m worried, for tonight.”

“Don’t be.” Kibum’s smile was honest, and I wondered what he’s been up to.

I found out quickly enough as he prepared me for dinner. He made me look stunning. He even put some makeup on my face, and I was surprised to see how natural, yet unnaturally beautiful it made my skin appear. I pushed away the thought that he was obviously making me look like this for Jonghyun and allowed myself to fantasize about what Minho would say. I imagined his voice in a soft yet manly whisper, and I could almost feel his breath against my neck as he whispered the things he wanted to do to me.

“What are you thinking about? Do I even want to know?” Kibum asked. I shook my head slowly, my lips slightly parting as I imagined Minho kissing me.

“Yeah, I think you’re right. You should keep your little fantasies to yourself. They are pretty obvious, though. You might want to watch where you’ll do that. I’d recommend doing it alone, when there’s no one to see you smile in that creepy way.” I didn’t reply, so Kibum just continued talking to himself like he always did when I didn’t reply. He did caught my attention at some point, as another question flowed out of his mouth.

“You’re falling for him, aren’t you?” he smirked. I felt my cheeks turn red and looked away.

“I knew it!” Kibum squeaked.  “Oh Taemin, you’re parents are going to be so happy!” My heart jumped, then I realized what he was saying. My parents? Happy? Kibum obviously didn’t know what was going on, and I knew I had to keep it that way. Him finding out that I was falling in love with someone who was the opposite from the man I was going to marry would be my death.

We walked to the stairs in silence, but I could tell Kibum was silently giggling at the thought of me actually falling for Jonghyun. That exact thought made me feel sick, but I felt all my feelings seep out of my body as I saw who was waiting for me down the stairs, looking incredibly close to being a rich person like myself. He wore a black suite that I recognized immediately as Kibum’s. I turned my head around to look at Kibum, who was nodding his head proudly.

“I figured I’d help him, so he wouldn’t look completely stupid. Well, you know me.” Said Kibum. I smiled and turned back to look at Minho. He looked far from stupid. His hair was nicely combed, yet some of his curls had managed to pop out of their places. To me, it looked cute, but I knew the others would find it messy. I could tell he was practicing his polite greeting, and I couldn’t help but giggle. The sound of my voice made him turn around, and when our eyes met, he smiled widely and bowed. I played along, reaching my hand towards him. His fingers gently touched mine as he grabbed my hand and pressed his lips against it.

“I’ve always wanted to do that.” He whispered as he looked up, letting go of my hand.

“I’m sorry I’m not your average princess.” I whispered back. He grinned at my joke, opening his mouth to reply. Kibum chuckled heavily behind me. Minho reached out his arm towards me like a real gentleman, and I held his arm like a woman would’ve.

“Wait.” I whispered. “Why am I being the girl?” He grinned.

“I’m already having a hard time being a rich boy, so please, don’t make me be a rich girl. That would be so much harder.”  I smiled, pinched his arm a little and lifted my chin up in the air. He copied me, lifting his chin up even higher. I couldn’t help but laugh, and he quickly lowered his chin to a more acceptable height. As we walked, I pointed out some of the most important people that were aboard, and told him who they were and what they did. He had an interested look on his face, but I could tell he was acting.

“Ah, mister Taemin. I’m so glad to see you’re healthy. You’ve grown so much.” I smiled and bowed thankfully. Minho looked at me in surprise.

“Gentleman, this is Choi Minho.” I introduced him.

“Ah, from the Choi bank?” Minho chuckled.

“No, from the wine, actually. I happen to own a big amount of wine fields in France.” He replied. I was amazed by his sudden attitude, he could easily pass as ‘one of us’. I would’ve believed him if I hadn’t known him, and I could tell the business men in front of us did too.

“Ah, I see.” One of them said. “That’s great! Well, they’re serving the meals, we should get to our tables. Enjoy your evening, mister Taemin. You too, sir. Oh, and Taemin. Congratulations!” he nodded towards our table, where Jonghyun was already seated. I felt my smile fade instantly, so I bowed quickly and walked away, Minho still holding my arm.

Jonghyun watched as Minho helped me sit down, moving my chair for me and placing it back as soon as I sat down. He sat down on the only empty chair that was left, three seats away from my left side.  I watched him stare at the plate, and the amount of forks and knives that were there. He watched Kibum as he started his dinner and copied his moves. Kibum noticed, and I could tell that he was annoyed, but he didn’t do or say anything.

“So, mister Choi. Would you mind telling us about your great adventure.” Minho looked up in surprise. Jonhyun looked at him with a big smile on his face, but it wasn’t a nice smile.

“Oh I’m sorry,” said Minho, “what do you mean by my great adventure?”

“I was hoping you’d once again share the story of how you saved my fiancée’s life.” Jonghyun smirked and I turned my hands into fists. No one could tell, because they were laying on my lap under the table, but for some reason Minho looked at me with a worried expression. I just looked away and listened as he shared the story I had made up. How I slipped, fell over the railing, and how he was at the right place at the right time to save me from falling to a slow and painful death.

“You know, mister Choi is quite an amazing artist.” I tried to change the conversation.

“That is, if you share Taemin’s taste in art. I happen to find his taste awful.” I tried not to glare at Jonghyun, I managed to giggle like a schoolgirl instead, acting stupid. It worked though, but I hated it. Playing dumb, letting him get away with it.

“But who knows, maybe he’s actually good. Maybe you can show me some of your work, one day?” Jonghyun continued, his voice still sounding sarcastic. Minho smiled, but it wasn’t his usual smile. The smile he showed right now was probably fake, but still beautiful. I smiled too. Not a fake smile. I almost laughed out loud as a plan started to settle down in my head. I was going to make Jonghyun pay for insulting Minho. Big time.

As usual, when everyone had finished their deserts, the businessman (and Kibum) stood straight, thanking the ladies for being there, as they went of to drink and smoke. They invited me, like they always did, knowing I would refuse. I was surprised when they stopped again to ask Minho. He also refused, and his eyes met mine for a second.

“That’s alright, kid.” Jonghyun said. “We’ll be talking about grown up stuff anyway. Politics, business… Nothing that would interest you in any way.” I clenched my jaws together and swallowed an insult. Minho stood straight, and walked towards me.

“Thanks for tonight, Taemin.” He said. It was the first time he said my name. He gently held my hand and kissed it again, like he did before. Then he walked away, and I noticed he had pushed something into my hand. It was a little paper. I hid it as the business man walked away, and when I felt safe enough, I opened it.

‘meet me at the stairs. Minho.’

/

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